An analysis of branching behaviour patterns in an interactive hypermedia learning environment
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520310481391 |
| Pages | 196-206 |
| Date | 01 June 2003 |
| Published date | 01 June 2003 |
| Author | Chiann‐Ru Song |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
An analysis of
branching behaviour
patterns in an
interactive hypermedia
learning environment
Chiann-Ru Song
Introduction
Complex learning requires that learners have
certain skills to succeed (Recker and Pirolli,
1995; Spiro et al., 1992; Winne and Perry,
1999). For example they need to be able to
reason, solve problems, and synthesize. These
skills are not learned by providing information
(Jacobson and Spiro, 1994). It requires that
procedures be modelled, student efforts be
critiqued or coached (Brown et al., 1988),
examples provided (Kolodner, 1993),
evaluations made (Butler and Winne, 1995),
etc. Thus instruction about complex learning
needs to include these kinds of units.
Hypermedia has been used to facilitate
these and other kinds of learning (Lajoie,
1993). Systems that focus on problem solving
may consist primarily of a sequence of
increasingly complex cases (Burton et al.,
1984) that model situations, and cases where
students solve similar situations and receive
feedback on their performance (coaching).
The next decision is when to offer these
experiences (Kolodner, 1993). Branching,
which provides students opportunities to
select a variety of instructional units, is one
way of structuring learning units. The student
judges a unit that seems appropriate to their
skills, begins working at this unit, but then,
depending on the feedback received, is able to
jump to subsequent units that seem best
suited for facilitating learning (Butler and
Winne, 1995).
User navigation through branching was one
type of interaction focused on in the study.
The use of branch points is one of the
innovative characteristics of hypermedia.
Branch points are nodes or decision points
along the pathway to a particular goal ± a set
of ``buttons'' that enable users to be in control
of their own learning process (Schank, 1993).
Branch points are the place where complex
learning skills such as monitoring and
decision making are employed to move a
learner from branch point to branch point
(Butler and Winne, 1995). When learning
The author
Chiann-Ru Song is a professor at the Institute for
Secondary School Teachers, Feng-Yuan, Taiwan.
Keywords
Behavioural sciences, Interaction, Complexity, Learning
Abstract
Students' branching behaviours and how these
behaviours relate to learner variables, such as prior
knowledge, and demographic variables, were examined.
Fourteen subjects were asked to learn a hypermedia
instructional director system, MAPLE (Multimedia
Authoring and Production Learning Environment). The
results showed students differ in their branching
behaviours and learning characteristics: individual
differences in branching behaviour patterns were related
to prior domain knowledge of director. High prior
knowledge students tended to employ the branching
behaviour pattern, moving linearly; low prior knowledge
students tended to employ branching behaviour pattern,
moving forward and backward; medium prior knowledge
students tended to employ branching behaviour pattern,
skipping sub-sections. Other prior knowledge variables,
and learner variables were unrelated to students'
branching behaviour patterns.
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Refereed article received 20 September 2002
Approved for publication 10 January 2003
This article was originally written for a doctoral
dissertation guided by Dr Donald Payne of the
Educational Communication and Technology at
the University of New York. The author wishes to
acknowledge Dr Payne for his invaluable
suggestions for improvement in rewriting the paper
for publication.
196
Online Information Review
Volume 27 .Number 3 .2003 .pp. 196-206
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520310481391
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